Abstract P675: GlycA, but Not C-reactive Protein is Associated With Baseline Carotid Artery Plaque in the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil)
Authors: William R Tebar, Vandrize Meneghini, Alessandra C Goulart, Itamar S Santos, Raul D Santos, Marcio S Bittencourt, Giuliano Generoso, Alexandre C Pereira, Michael J Blaha, Steven R Jones, Peter P Toth, James D Otvos, Paulo A Lotufo, Isabela M Bensenor
Journal: Circulation (2023)

Introduction: Elevated GlycA and C-reactive protein (CRP) are associated with carotid artery plaque (CAP). However, it is not yet established if the presence of both inflammatory biomarkers provides incremental association with CAP. Objective: We cross-sectionally analyzed the association of high CRP and GlycA with CAP at baseline in the ELSA-Brasil cohort. Methods: Participants with information on CRP, GlycA, and CAP with no previous cardiovascular disease nor CRP greater than 10mg/L were included. GlycA was measured by nuclear magnetic resonance and values in the upper quintile were defined as high. CRP was measured by immunoassay and defined as high if greater than 3mg/L. Participants were classified into 4 groups: i. non-elevated CRP/GlycA (reference); ii. elevated CRP alone; iii. elevated GlycA alone; and iv. both elevated. The association with CAP was analyzed by logistic regression models and presented in odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) both crude and adjusted for sex, age, ethnicity, education attainment, private health insurance, body mass index, smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, and medical diagnosis of diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. Results: The analysis included 4,126 participants (50.0 [45.0 - 57.0] median years-old, 54.2% women). The prevalence of CAP, elevated CRP, and elevated GlycA was 36.1%, 25.5%, and 20.1%, respectively. Males showed higher prevalence of CAP than females (42.8% vs. 30.3%, p&lt;0.001), but had lower prevalence of elevated CRP (20.7% vs. 29.6%, p&lt;0.001) and of elevated GlycA (17.1% vs. 22.7%, p&lt;0.001). Comparing groups, participants with high CRP were mostly women and had the highest frequency of obesity, while participants with high GlycA presented with less socioeconomic support and higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factor (CVRF) burden. Participants with CAP were older, mostly men, non-Whites, with low education attainment, current smokers, with high levels of CVRF and GlycA than participants without CAP (p&lt;0.001 for all). Participants with high GlycA were more likely to have CAP than the reference group (OR: 1.39; 95% CI: 1.11 - 1.73; p=0.004), even after multivariable adjustment (OR: 1.37; 95% CI: 1.02 - 1.84; p=0.038). In contrast, no association was observed between high CRP and CAP (OR: 0.86; 95% CI: 0.71 - 1.04; p=0.110). Participants with both elevated CRP and GlycA were more likely to have CAP in crude (OR: 1.35; 95% CI: 1.10 - 1.65; p=0.003) but not in adjusted model (OR: 1.32; 95% CI: 0.99 - 1.77; p=0.059). Conclusions: The findings suggest that elevations in different serum markers of inflammation correlate with different disease states, where high GlycA is associated with CAP while high CRP is more associated with obesity.